Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada Home > Research Program > Responses to Information Requests Responses to Information Requests Responses to Information Requests (RIR) respond to focused Requests for Information that are submitted to the Research Directorate in the course of the refugee protection determination process. The database contains a year archive of English and French RIRs. Earlier RIRs may be found on the UNHCR's Refworld website. 20 November NGA104218.E Nigeria: Prevalence of ritual murder and human sacrifice; police and state response (2009-2012) Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Ottawa 1. Overview According to various sources, ritual killings in Nigeria are performed to obtain human body parts in rituals (Daily Trust 21 June 2010; Osumah and Aghedo June 2011, 279; Sahara Reporters 3 July 2012), potions (Daily Trust 21 June 2010; This Day 26 Sept. 2010), and charms (The Punch 10 Aug. 2012; Sahara Reporters 3 July 2012). The Lagos-based newspaper This Day explains that "ritualists, also known as headhunters, … go in search of human parts at the request of herbalists, who require them for sacrifices the preparation of various magical potions" (26 Sept. 2010). Similarly, the Abuja-based Daily Trust that human body parts are brought to herbalists who perform the rituals (21 June 2010). Such rituals are reportedly motivated by the belief that they can bring power and wealth to an individual (Leadership 2012; The Punch 10 Aug. 2012; Daily Trust 21 June 2010). Sources also indicate that charms are believed make a person invincible (The Punch 10 Aug. 2012) and protect them from business failure, illness, accidents, and "'spiritual attacks'" (Daily Trust 21 June 2010). According to Lagos-based newspaper the Punch, "many" Nigerians "have been made to believe" in the effectiveness of such rituals (10 Aug. 2012). The Daily Trust indicates that "many experts" attribute the prevalence of ritual murder to the "continuing belief among many Nigerians, … even educated ones, in the supernatural" (21 June 2010). Similarly, an article published by Sahara Reporters, a Nigerian "online community of international reporters and social advocates" (25 July 2010), states that the belief in the power of ritual murder "is very strong among the local population [of southern Nigeria] including people of faiths and educational backgrounds" and not only among "traditional fetish illiterates" (3 July 2012). In an academic journal article on kidnapping in Nigeria, researchers from Ambrose Alli University in Ekpoma, Edo State, and the University of Benin in Benin City state that traditional targets of ritual kidnapping are "children, lunatics and the physically challenged" (Osumah and Aghedo June 2011, 279). Similarly, the Sahara Reporters article states that "vulnerable members of society," such as women, children, the elderly, and people with disabilities, as well as family members of ritualists, are targeted and killed (3 July 2012). According to a sociologist at Bayero University in Kano who was interviewed by Agence France-Presse, "fetish priests [in Nigeria] are known to favor children's body parts for get-rich-quick potions" (4 July 2009). Page 1 of 7 2. Prevalence According to This Day, ritual murders are "a common practice" in Nigeria (26 Sept. 2010). This statement is partially corroborated by the Sahara Reporters article, which states that ritual murder is common in southern Nigeria (3 July 2012). The Daily Trust writes that ritual killings continue to be practiced in Nigeria and have become more prevalent since 1999 (21 June 2010). Similarly, a 2012 Daily Independent states that "in recent times, the number of … brutal murders, mostly for ritual purposes and other circumstances, involving couples and their partners has been on a steady progression" (30 July 2012). In contrast, a research associate at the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London who has researched and written on Nigerian religions stated in correspondence with the Research Directorate that, while ritual murder does occur in Nigeria, it is not a "systematic practice" (31 Oct. 2012). According to a report published in Leadership, ritual murder is not limited to any specific part of the country and "every region, tribe and state has its own share of the scourge" (30 Apr. 2012). However, 2009, This Day reported that a confidential memo from the Nigerian police to registered security service providers indicated that ritual killings were particularly prevalent in the states of Lagos, Ogun, Kaduna, Abia, Kwara, Abuja, Rivers, and Kogi (26 Oct. 2009). Corroborating information could not be found by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response. In 2010, one newspaper reported that dead bodies with missing organs were being discovered on a daily basis on a road close to Lagos State University that was described as a "hot spot for ritual killers" ( Day 26 Sept. 2010). A second newspaper reported in February 2011 that, in the same area, ten people had been killed in suspected ritual murders in the preceding two months (Daily Times 11 Feb. 2011). A 2009 article published by Agence France-Presse reported that, according to a state government official, the kidnapping of children for ritual murder was on the rise in Kano (4 July 2009). 3. Specific Incidents of Ritual Murder Nigerian media sources report on the killing of a "hunchbacked" person in four separate incidents: in the capital of Ondo State in 2012 (Leadership 30 Apr. 2012), in the south of the country in 2011 (Sahara Reporters 3 July 2012), in Kogi State in 2010 (Daily Independent 24 Feb. 2010), and in Osun State (This Day 27 Oct. 2009). The "hunch" of the victims was removed, reportedly for use in money-making rituals (Leadership 30 Apr. 2012; Sahara Reporters 3 July 2012; Daily Independent 24 Feb. 2010; This Day 2009). Media sources have documented the following incidents of ritual murder that resulted in arrests: • In May 2012, in Kogi State, a convicted serial killer and former soldier killed a 22-year-old female student, intending to dismember her body for ritual purposes, before being arrested by police (APA 19 May 2012; Vanguard 2 June 2012). The killer had reportedly been convicted of murder and sentenced to death in 2003 but had later been acquitted and released (ibid.; APA 19 May 2012). • In July 2012, two men from Nasawara State confessed to killing a seven-year-old boy, the child of neighbours, and severing his head for a man who had promised them 250,000 Nigerian Naira [C$1,591 (XE 1 Nov. 2012)] for it (The Punch 10 Aug. 2012; Channel S TV 24 July 2012). • In July 2012, two men were arrested in Lagos for killing and dismembering their brother and reportedly selling his body parts (The Punch 10 Aug. 2012; Daily Times 27 July 2012; Online Nigeria 28 July 2012). • In August 2012, in Ebonyi State, seven people were arrested for kidnapping, killing, and dismembering a young girl, reportedly for money-making rituals; two of the suspects confessed to the crime (Vanguard 28 Aug. 2012; Guardian 31 Aug. 2012). Media sources also document the following cases of suspected ritual murder that resulted in arrests: • In 2012, in Osun State, a young man was found dead with his head and genitals severed from his body; a close friend of the man was reportedly arrested in connection with the murder (Leadership 30 Apr. 2012; Nigerian Tribune 22 Apr. 2012). One source indicates that a Page 2 of 7 herbalist who reportedly performs money rituals and two other individuals were also arrested as suspects (ibid.). • In 2012, in Abia State, two men kidnapped and killed two children, aged four and six, removed their vital organs and buried them, before being arrested (The Sun 18 June 2012; Nigeria Newspoint [2012a]). • In June 2012, in Nasawara State, a man and a "witch doctor" were arrested for their involvement in what police suspected to be a ritual murder of the man's wife, whose body was found with some body parts missing (The Nation 26 June 2012; Daily Trust 26 June 2012). Media sources also document the following cases of suspected ritual murder for which no suspects were apprehended: • In February 2011, near Jos, Plateau State, an elderly couple was beheaded and their grandchildren were beaten to death in what police suspected to be ritual killing because the killers had left with the woman's head (Reuters 12 Feb. 2011; Press Trust of India 13 Feb. 2011; Leadership 30 Apr. 2012). • In April 2012, a woman was found along an Abuja expressway with her head and genitals severed from her body (ibid. 30 Apr. 2012; Weekly Trust 14 Apr. 2012). • In June 2012, in Imo State, a woman was killed by unknown assailants (Nigeria Newspoint [2012b]; Leadership 10 June 2012). Her head and some internal organs had reportedly been removed (ibid.). Information on the outcomes of the above cases could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response. 4. State Response According to the research associate at the University of London, "there is no recognised, institutionalised response [to ritual murders] from police or state" (31 Oct. 2012). The research associate added, further, that because of corruption in police and state institutions, "any action or inaction wouldn't necessarily be transparent" (31 Oct. 2012). In October 2012, the Governor of Zamfara State, in response to "reports of incessant killings and disappearances of persons," especially children, reportedly warned "ritual killers and cultists" in a public address to leave the state, adding that they would be subject to the death penalty if found guilty of murder (Daily Trust 20 Oct. 2012). Further information on the response by state authorities to ritual killings could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response.